Trust Me, I'm a Chatbot: How Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Fails the Turing Test

Over the last two decades, the concerns of digital health researchers interested in the social impact of the internet have evolved as the technology has matured and new tools have emerged. From a sociotechnical perspective, there were initial preoccupations with the impact of a new, uncontrolled form of mass communication, alongside concerns with the quality of unregulated online information and threats to professions, with medical professionals in particular fearing a loss of authority [1-3]. As Web2.0 developments took hold and the public became producers as well as consumers of health information, researchers began to identify the benefits of online peer-to-peer communication and the sharing of information in virtual communities, social media, and increasingly on health ratings sites [4-7]. With the mass uptake in smartphones, the subsequent rapid developments in mobile health, and the explosion in health apps, we are now exploring the value of low-cost, patient-centered interventions delivered directly to consumers [8,9]. In addition, we are also gaining a better understanding of the limitations and key issues in their implementation, such as nonadoption and abandonment [10].